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Low Sugar and Whole Wheat Apple-Pear Cake with Cinnamon and Pecans

Low Sugar and Whole Wheat Apple-Pear Cake with Cinnamon and Pecans is a healthy cake made with white whole wheat flour, apples, pears, Stevia granulated sweetener, and just a touch of brown sugar. This tasty cake is low-glycemic and South Beach Diet Phase Two. Use the Recipes-by-Diet-Type Index to find more recipes like this one

(Once a week for Thursday Treats I feature recipes that are a bit higher in carbs or more indulgent than my usual low-carb offerings and this Low-Sugar and Whole Wheat Apple-Pear Cake with Cinnamon and Pecans is a whole wheat cake with just a little sugar that's delicious for fall.)

There's something about cinnamon-laden cakes with fruit that just screams Autumn, but this cake recipe actually got started when it was still summer and I had a surplus of zucchini and made a low sugar and whole wheat Garden Harvest Cake with apples, zucchini, and carrot. Despite the fact it looked more like a bread than a cake, it was definitely one of my favorite new recipes that year.

At the time I wondered if you could adapt the recipe to make a cake with just apples, but when I had both pears and apples I decided to try it with that combination. Apples and pears together in a low sugar cake sounded so good to me, but my first attempt was far too wet, and I also decided I wanted a flat cake instead of the loaf pan the original recipe called for. It took me two more cakes to get to the version you'll find in this recipe, which is a low sugar dessert that I'm thinking just about anyone would enjoy. You can skip the touch of brown sugar for a cake that's even lower in sugar or if you don't care if the cake is low in sugar, skip the Stevia and make it with all sugar if you'd like.

When I went to photograph this cake, it screamed for a dollop of something creamy on top, and I used a dollop of whipped cream from a can that I had in the fridge, which was actually pretty low in sugar but probably not that healthy. Of course you could use sugar-free or low-sugar ice cream of frozen yogurt, but an anonymous commenter suggested topping the cake with plain low-fat Greek yogurt, which I think sounds good.

I found I got best results with this recipe when I grated the pear and apples in a food processor (hand grating made it wetter) so I'd recommend using that if you have one. One pear and two apples gave me 2 cups of grated pear-apple mixture.

Mix the pear-apple mixture into the dry ingredients, turning over several times until all the grated fruit is coated with the flour-Splenda mixture.

Then measure 3/4 cup pecans, chop pecans with a chef's knife, and stir into the floured fruit mixture.

In a small bowl, whip eggs with a fork, then stir in the canola oil and buttermilk and stir together a few times with the fork.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient mixture and stir to combine. It should be fairly stiff.

Spray a 9X9 inch dish with non-stick spray, then pour the batter in and pat down evenly with a rubber scraper. (I think an 8x8 inch cake pan would also work.)

Cake is done when it's nicely browned, begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. For me, that was about 35 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350F/175C and spray a 9X9 inch pan with non-stick spray or oil (Or you can use an 8X8 inch pan and have the cake rise a bit above the top.) In a large mixing bowl, add white whole wheat flour, sweetener, brown sugar (or more sweetener), cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Mix together with large spoon until well-combined.

Peel and grate apples and pear to make 2 cups grated fruit, then stir into dry ingredients, turning over several times until all the grated fruit is well-coated with the flour mixture. Measure 3/4 cup pecans and chop with chef's knife, then add chopped pecans to the bowl with the flour/fruit mixture. Use the spoon to toss ingredients together.

In a smaller bowl, add eggs, and beat with a fork about 30 seconds. Add canola oil and buttermilk, and stir together with the fork. Pour egg mixture into the other bowl with the flour mixture and stir until just combined. (Mixture will be fairly stiff, but if it's not wet enough to incorporate all the dry ingredients, add 1 T more buttermilk.)

Pour cake into oiled pan. Bake at 350F/175C for about 35 minutes, or until cake is nicely browned, is beginning to spring away from the sides of pan, and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out completely clean. (For me, that was exactly 35 minutes.)

Cool cake in the pan placed on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before cutting. This lasted several days in the refrigerator, but I did find it very hard to resist eating it for breakfast!

Obviously this cake can't ever be sugar free, because there's natural sugar in the fruit, but even if you use the 2 T of brown sugar I felt gave the best flavor, it's still pretty low in sugar for a dessert. I'd consider this a "once in a while treat" for the South Beach Diet if you're on phase two, or you could eat it more often for phase three.

I chose the South Beach Diet to manage my weight partly so I wouldn't have to count calories, carbs, points, or fat grams, but if you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into Calorie Count, which will calculate it for you. Or if you're a member of Yummly, you can use the Yum button on my site to save the recipe and see the nutritional information there.

More Recipes for Low-Sugar or Sugar-Free Cakes:

(Recipes from other blogs may not always be South Beach Diet friendly; check ingredients. White Whole Wheat can probably be subbed for white flour in most of these cakes.)

(Want even more recipes? I find these recipes from other blogs using Food Blog Search.)

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This is quite a lovely looking cake, Kalyn. I'm eating no wheat these days so may try to play with your great recipe (nut flours?). I'll let you know how/if it turns out. Thanks, as always, for the link!

Christine, would love to see a version of this with almond flour or some other type of nut flour. Do share if you come up with one.

Winnie, that's what I decided. I took a couple of photos without any topping, but it did indeed look "blah." I'm thinking Greek yogurt with a bit of agave drizzled over might be the best option of all!

Anonymous, the reason I chose the South Beach Diet is because I didn't want to have to figure out calories, carbs, etc. for everything I eat. I think there are some easy places online where you can enter the amounts and calculate it yourself though if you want to know.

You could probably make a cake like this with agave, but I don't know what the adjustments would be. I think it would take some definite tinkering with the recipe, since Splenda is a dry ingredient and agave is a wet ingredient.

Anonymous, always wanted to go to the Canary Islands!! Anyway, sorry for getting off the topic. Splenda is an artificial sweetener sold in the U.S. that can be used just like sugar in baking. Here is some information about Splenda if you want to read about it. Thanks for the reminder, I should be linking to it in my posts I guess.

Lovemom, I chose the South Beach Diet because I didn't want to have to count carbs, so people who want that information will have to calculate it themselves. There is a link in the post for White Whole Wheat flour which will take you to a post I wrote about it.

What a great recipe! I was searching for a way to use up excess pears and apples when I found it. I substituted almond meal for the flour, and added an extra cup of it instead of the pecans (because I didn't have any) and it turned out a bit wet, but very delicious! I made it in muffin tins, and froze all but a few to keep from eating them all at once!

Laura, fun to hear that you made this work with almond meal, thanks for the feedback. It might help to use almond flour which is a little more finely ground than almond meal (and seems to absorb a little more liquid.) Glad you liked it.

I'm so happy you're taking the time to comment on Kalyn's Kitchen! I love hearing from people who stop by, especially if you're sharing feedback or asking questions about a recipe I've posted here.

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